Bus riders are being warned to anticipate further service disruptions as COVID-19 infections impact staffing levels at BC Transit.
“This is resulting in the need to sometimes alter schedules and cancel trips on short notice,” the company stated in a release. “Despite these necessary trip cancellations, BC Transit was able to maintain approximately 98 per cent of scheduled service. Our team does their best to ensure the impact to customers is minimized.”
Various routes had service changes Thursday (Jan. 27), with specific trips affected, such as the cancellation of the Route 39 UVic bus leaving Markham and West Saanich roads at 7:43 a.m., and the Route 15 UVic bus leaving from Dockyard at 7:15 a.m.
Transit riders can stay updated on service changes by visiting BC Transit’s alerts page.
The staffing at BC Transit was also impacted when it instituted a vaccine mandate in November 2021. The transit agency is currently hiring drivers – applications can be found on their site here.
“The health and safety of customers and drivers is our top priority, and all BC Transit employees are asked to stay home if they are feeling unwell,” the release continued. Since the beginning of the pandemic, their policy has included “enhanced bus and facility cleaning,” mandatory masks for riders and one-way passenger flow on the buses.
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